‘Shakti has ended,' says the iconic band's co-founder John McLaughlin
With the passing of its celebrated Indian frontman, tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain, this is the last offering from Shakti's stable.
For jazz exponent and Shakti co-founder John McLaughlin, Mind Explosion is about camaraderie and creativity. 'On December 15, 2024, a curtain came down on a monumental part of my life. After 55 years of countless concerts, recordings, travels, meals, and laughter together, my brother Zakir, departed. The group Shakti, which we founded together in 1973, has ended. I sincerely hope other 'Shakti' kinds of groups will follow. The kinds of groups that unite diverse cultures for one reason only: joy, because joy was for 50 years the unshakable foundation of Shakti. We brought joy to each other and to listeners,' said the 83-year-old maestro on email to The Hindu.
Apart from playing the truest East-West fusion music, the kind rarely heard, Shakti's biggest contribution is turning the spotlight on Indian classical instrumentalists. The band triumphantly tapped into their unique improvisatory skills and projected their ability to hold on to their own style in a collaborative set up. In the process, it inspired a whole generation of string and percussion artistes to look beyond the conventional repertoire and explore new possibilities of sound.
The Shakti story began in 1969 when Zakir first met John. Both frequented the same music store in Greenwich Village in New York City. In 1973, they met again in the living room of celebrated sarodist Ustad Ali Akbar Khan's house in California. After which John remarked about Zakir: 'We were musicians from the same family in another life'. Soon the formidable duo launched Shakti with ghatam virtuoso Vikku Vinayakram and maverick violinist L. Shankar. From 1975 to 1977, they toured extensively and released three studio albums and one live album.
In 1978, Shakti disbanded but regrouped in 1979 as Remembering Shakti. Along the way, Zakir and John brought on board mandolin prodigy U. Shrinivas, singer Shankar Mahadevan and kanjira ace Selva Ganesh. In 2014, after Shrinivas' untimely death, Shakti lost steam but only to make a second comeback in 2020, this time with experimental violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan into the fold. The COVID-19 Pandemic struck and lockdown was spent recording The Moment. In 2023, Shakti celebrated 50 years with a world tour, making memorable stopovers at several Indian cities. In 2024, The Moment won the Grammy for Best Global Music Album.
'We planned to release Mind Explosion last year along with Shakti's final three golden jubilee shows at NMACC in Mumbai and Dubai's Coca-Cola Arena, but Zakir Hussain's death left us shattered,' says Souvik Dutta, the U.S.-based music entrepreneur, who is launching the album. He was also the man behind Shakti's 50th anniversary concerts and the producer of its The Moment.
'Unlike his vibrant self, Zakir sounded exhausted when he called me in November 2024. He wanted to take some time off. He had told John he would be fine soon and back for the shows. He was conversing with all of us on our Whatsapp group and even took a look at the working album cover. Suddenly, his health began to deteriorate. After his passing, we lost the enthusiasm and energy to take the work forward. But we decided that we had to do it for him. His absence was felt every moment and in every musical aspect. It was painful. So much that even the cover design went through at least seven iterations before John arrived at the final one,' recalls Souvik.
The band wanted to round off its golden jubilee celebrations with a live album. Recording engineer Sven Hoffman recorded all 29 concerts performed across the globe. The musicians listened to these recordings and zeroed in on six tracks – 'Kiki', 'Giriraj Sudha', 'Lotus Feet', '5 in the Morning 6 in the Afternoon', 'Sakhi' and 'Shrini's Dream'.
Mind Explosion, mixed by George Murphy and mastered by renowned keyboardist Scott Kinsey, carries a big slice of Indo-jazz music history. Dedicating the album to Zakir bhai's memory, Shankar Mahadevan, Ganesh Rajagopalan and Selva Ganesh see the album as a documentation of Shakti's efforts in creating a music world without borders.
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